Institute of Advanced Theology and Jewish Studies Program Present
A Screening and Discussion with Filmmaker Donna Kanter
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Campus Center, Weis Cinema
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EST/GMT-5
6:00pm Reception6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EST/GMT-5
6:30pm Screening and Discussion
THE PRESENCE OF THEIR ABSENCE is the amazing story of a Los Angeles man seeking his roots in the ashes of the Holocaust.
The film encourages discussion on the new oral tradition that belongs uniquely to adult children of Shoah survivors. Few of their stories have ever been told.
We follow Fred Zaidman on his journey to trace his inherited trauma. Armed with only scant clues from his late parents who had survived concentration camps in Poland and Germany, Fred ventures into the unknown to tell his story for this first time.
With helpers in Poland, at Yad Vashem in Israel, at Bergen-Belsen, Germany - and with an unlikely source – a Baptist minister in Atlanta who guides us through a cemetery in Poland - Fred finds his roots, unshackles his pain and reconstructs his future.
We feature a Death March survivor from Fred’s ancestral town, Fred’s brother Martin – one of 1000 children born in the Bergen-Belsen DP camp – and discover living relatives in Israel among findings of those who perished in Poland.
Yad Vashem has called The Presence of Their Absence “a film for the ages." It’s an honor to be at the forefront of this groundbreaking tradition and look forward to sharing Fred’s courageous story.Sponsored by: Institute of Advanced Theology; Jewish Studies Program; The Rhinebeck Reformed Church, and The Jewish Federation of Dutchess County.
For more information, call 845-758-7335, or e-mail [email protected].
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Location: Campus Center, Weis Cinema